By Stella Odueme
The Federal Government has stressed the need for year-round availability of affordable and nutritionally balanced animal feed to improve livestock productivity and strengthen Nigeria’s livestock industry.
The Minister of Livestock Development, Idi Mukhtar Maiha, stated at the launch of Olam Agri’s TrueValue Cattle Feed in Kaduna.
Maiha said adequate nutrition was essential to enabling livestock to achieve their genetic potential, noting that good genetics must be complemented by proper feeding to achieve optimal growth, milk production, fertility, animal health and overall farm productivity.
“Good genetics must be matched with good nutrition if we are to achieve optimal growth for milk production, fertility, animal health, and overall farm productivity,” he said in a statement by the Head, Press and Public Relations, Henrietta Okokon, on Friday.
The minister described feed as one of the major costs of livestock production, stressing that its quality and availability have a direct impact on animal health, growth and survivability.
He said ensuring feed availability throughout the year through fodder, crop residues and concentrates was fundamental to sustainable livestock production and had broader implications for food security, economic development and peaceful livestock management.
According to him, quality concentrate feeds would also play an important role in developing commercial feedlot systems for cattle and other livestock.
Maiha explained that combining concentrates with quality fodder, clean water and sound animal husbandry practices could improve feed conversion, accelerate weight gain and reduce finishing periods, thereby enabling farmers to present healthier and better-finished animals to the market.
He added that a stronger feed industry would stimulate growth across the livestock value chain, including feedlots, abattoirs, meat processing, packaging, transportation and marketing.
“A more productive and reliable feed industry will ensure the regular supply of quality cattle, sheep, and goats to our abattoirs. It will also encourage investment in modern feedlots, slaughter facilities, meat processing, culture infrastructure, packaging, branding, transportation, and marketing,” the minister said.
Maiha called for a coordinated approach involving fodder producers, crop farmers, feed manufacturers, livestock producers, research institutions, financial institutions and processors to strengthen Nigeria’s feed and fodder sector.
He also advocated improved feed testing, proper ration formulation, certification of commercial feeds and stronger quality assurance measures to control contaminants, alongside increased production and conservation of quality fodder.
The minister commended Olam Agri for investing in Nigeria’s livestock sector, describing the TrueValue Cattle Feed launch as a practical contribution to the government’s efforts to modernise livestock production and establish a productive, commercially viable and sustainable industry.
He urged the company to make the feeds affordable and accessible to farmers while supporting the product with farmer training, feeding demonstrations and collaboration with research and regulatory institutions.
Speaking at the event, Olam Agri’s President and Global Head of Animal Feeds and Proteins Business, Sharad Gupta, said the company was leveraging its existing feed business and distribution network to introduce TrueValue Cattle Feed into the Nigerian market.
Gupta said although the cattle feed distribution network was still being developed, Olam Agri would combine its existing feed dealers with established players in the cattle sector who have direct relationships with livestock farmers.
He said the company was focused on producing the feed at scale and keeping it competitively priced rather than selling small quantities at high prices.
“We are not looking to make small quantities and sell them at high price. We are looking to make large quantities and keep them very, very tightly competitively priced,” Gupta said.
He added that the company sources more than 90 per cent of the raw materials for its existing poultry feed business locally, including corn, soy, rice bran, groundnut cake, minerals and limestone.
According to him, Olam Agri’s wheat milling operations also provide access to wheat bran, an important ingredient in ruminant feed production.